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If this A4 route
could talk By Lt.
Col. A.S. Amarasekara It is a little
known fact that Pottuvil has originated from its former Sinhalese
name Bodhivilla. It is at the village to the north of Pottuvil that
the soldiers of King Kavantissa asked the villagers where the ship
with the princess had been sighted.They asked the question "Ko
Kumari?" The villagers pointed to the south and said, "Ara
gamay". The village in which the question "Ko Kumari"
was asked was later named Komari and the "Ara Gamay" where
she had landed was later identified as Arugambay. It was at Arugambay
that the Mudumahaviharaya was discovered in 1972. In the ruined
shrine room of the ancient temple is a stone statue of a standing
Buddha. On either side of this stone Buddha statue are two stone
statues of the king and queen in worship. In the beach not far from
the ancient temple are several stone pillars where the pier of the
ancient harbour may have existed. The Magulmahaviharaya approximately
10 kilometres from this point is believed to be where King Kavantissa
married Queen Vihara Mahadevi. A Bodhi tree had been subsequently
planted where the Poruwa was constructed. Although the tree is dead,
the ruined wall of the Bodhiprakaaraya is still visible. The numerous
man-made reservoirs or tanks now mostly in ruins in the Ampara and
Batticaloa districts are a testimony to the highly advanced form
of civilization that existed in this area which the archaeologists
refer to as the Magama Ancient Sinhala Buddhist hydraulic civilization.
The ancient temples now mostly in ruins are little known . There
are forty-two identified archaeological sites in the Ampara district
and 21 in the Batticaloa district, most of them being ancient Buddhist
temples. Some of the ancient Buddhist temples not far from the two
previously mentioned that are accessible to a traveller on the A4
route are Tharalengala, Lahugala, Kotavehera, Shasthirivila, Kudumbigala,
Atagala, Nilagiriseya, Jayarampola, Ettama, Kirimati Aru, Rangama,
Moranwatta, Kiramale, Sangamankanda and Kanchikudichchi Aru. The Magama
Sinhala Buddhist hydraulic civilization may have commenced when
Rohana, one of King Vijaya's comrades decided to settle in the deep
south. The Mahavamsa
records that King Mutasiva (307-247 B.C) had several sons, Devanampiyatissa,
Uttiya, Mahanaga, Mahasiva, Suratissa and Asela. The country at
this point of time had three kingdoms, that of Ruhunu, Pihiti and
Maya together referred to as the Thun Sinhela. The capital
of Thun Sinhela was Anuradhapura that was situated in the Pihiti
Rata, which was better known as the Raja Rata as the reigning sovereign
was resident in that part of the country. King Mutasiva was succeeded
by Devanampiyatissa, Uttiya, Mahasiva, Suratissa and Asela at Anuradhapura
while Mahanaga the third son of King Mutasiva reigned as king of
Ruhunu Rata with his capital at Magama. Yatthalayakatissa, Gothabhaya
and Kavantissa followed him. While the Raja
Rata hydraulic civilization was experiencing its first two Tamil
invasions from India, the hydraulic civilization in the Ruhunu Rata
was developing sans any such problems. The first such Tamil invasion
in Raja Rata was during the region of King Suratissa (187 to 177
B.C). He was defeated in battle by two Tamil usurpers Sena and Guttika,
who subsequently ruled the Raja Rata for twenty -two years (177-155
B.C). Asela, the younger brother of Suratissa defeated Sena and
Guttika in battle and regained the throne for ten years (155-145
B.C) but was subsequently defeated by the next Tamil usurper Elara.
Elara reigned at Raja Rata for forty-four years (145 to 101 B.C).
At this point of time Ruhunu, Pihiti and Maya were three separate
Kingdoms, which were ruled by Kavantissa, Elara and Kelanitissa
respectively. Viharamahadevi was the daughter of Kelanitissa. It
was Dutugamunu the son of King Kavantissa and Viharamahadevi who
defeated Elara and reunited the three Kingdoms of Sinhela in 101
B.C. These are a
few historical facts regarding our nation known to many but only
a few know the truth regarding what happened on October 8, 2002
at Kanchanakudah, a small village on the A4 route between Pottuvil
and Batticaloa. LTTE terrorists are making every effort to permanently
link the northern province with the eastern province to form their
proposed separate state of Eelam. With only a twenty nine percent
Tamil population in the eastern province, the LTTE has to dominate
certain strategic areas in this province if they are to subjugate
the seventy one percent Sinhalese and Muslim population. One such
area they require to dominate is the thick jungle terrain not far
form Kanchikudichchi Aru and Rufuskulum where a well-fortified base
is presently under construction after the signing of the MOU. It
was in this jungle area that the six hundred and forty policemen
who surrendered to the LTTE were brutally shot dead in June 1990.
The approach road to this area commences from the A 4 route at Kanchanakudah.
At this road
junction in Kanchanakudah is STF camp that had made it difficult
if not impossible for the LTTE to build up its strength in the jungle
base without fear of STF attack prior to the MOU. This STF camp
dominated the main approach road to the Kanchikudichchi Aru, Rufuskulum
area and with its presence it is extremely difficult to smuggle
weapons to the jungle base in the interior. However, some arms shipments
were offloaded on the beach at the Sangamankanda point and smuggled
to the jungle base with great difficulty bypassing the STF camp
after the MOU was signed. For further logistic movement to improve
and develop this jungle base, it became imperative that the STF
camp be removed from its strategic location. A suitable incident
like what was organized at Point Pedro with much success where a
Brigade headquarters of the army was attacked using civilians and
schoolchildren, was the modus operandi decided by the LTTE. The Tamil villagers
in and around Kanchanakudah were able to live in peace prior to
the MOU. They had a very good relationship with the STF that was
providing them wiht the much needed security from the terrorists.
The LTTE became active in these villages only after the MOU was
signed and commenced not only to demand food for their cardres and
to levy taxes but also to forcibly recruit children. The villagers
in this area now live in fright, terrorized by the LTTE that operates
from their jungle base as a political organization, thanks to the
provisions in the MOU. The LTTE was
well aware that the STF occasionally hired tractors from the civilians
for their transport requirements. They therefore waited for such
an occasion and terrorized the civilians who were hiring these tractors
not to oblige. There was an exchange of words in this connection
between the STF personnel and the civilians, in the presence of
some LTTE members. Soon after this incident one LTTE member made
a complaint at the Tirukkovil STF camp saying that STF personnel
stationed at Kanchanakudah had assaulted him. He was examined by
a doctor at the Tirukkovil hospital who refused to admit him to
the hospital, as there were no indications of assault. The mob of
LTTE supporters who had arrived with the complainant then set fire
to a tyre on the road near the Tirukkovil STF camp in protest and
dispersed. In the meantime,
hundreds of civilians instigated and even forcibly rounded up at
gunpoint by LTTE members had surrounded the Kanchanakudah STF camp.
The LTTE members among them had commenced to abuse the STF personnel
in filth. They carried stones to the location, broke through the
outer perimeter fence and first began filling the drinking water
well that was supplying water to the camp and also damaged the water
pump. They next stoned the shrine room at the entrance to the camp
and destroyed the Buddha statue in it. They then began to pelt stones
at all the buildings within the camp. Finally, they instigated the
mob to rush through the main entrance into the inner compound. The
STF personnel were compelled to first fire tear gas followed by
rubber bullets to prevent the mob from storming the area in which
the STF had taken up position to safeguard the armoury. When this
too failed the STF personnel commenced firing live rounds selecting
the ring leaders. It was when
eight of them fell dead that the mob took to their heels. Four of
them fell dead within the inner perimeter fence of which two were
identified as LTTE leaders. One of them had been arrested and sent
to the Kalutara deterntion camp but thereafter had been released
recently due to lack of evidence. There were
four others who fell dead outside the camp while retreating. The
injured were admitted to the Tirrukkovil hospital and one succumbed
to his injuries while thirteen got themselves forcibly discharged
that very night as they were active members of the LTTE and were
worried that their identity would be exposed. The villagers in and
around Kanchanakudah are today silently protesting against the actions
of the LTTE that used them as human shields for the attack on the
STF camp. The media failed
to enlighten the masses on the true facts of this incident. They
are trying to appease a government which is not unlike the British
Government under the leadership of Prime Minister Neville Champberlain
that was bending backwards to please the Germans under the leadership
of Hitler. Like the MOU that the government has signed with the
LTTE in December 2001, the British government signed the Munich
Agreement with the Germans in September 1938. On his return to England,
Chamberlain said, "This is the second time in our history that
there has come back from Germany to Downing Street peace with honour,
I believe it is peace in our time."Winston Churchill, however,
disagreed with him at the House of Commons and said, "We have
sustained a total unmitigated defeat." He had to pause, until
the protest against such a remark had subsided. Like Winston Churchill
then, the few who still protest are today referred to as warmongers.
Be that as it may, it is also saddening to see the majority in this
country living in a fool's paradise. They like the masses of Britain
in September 1938 believe that peace has come for all time. They even believe
in the possibility of a tiger changing its stripes. Though many
were those Sinhalese who visited Jaffna and Trincomalee on pleasure
jaunts after this incident on October 8 not one of them made an
effort to visit these brave men of the STF, who defended the Kanchankudah
camp so valiantly. These Sinhalese who go on such pleasure jaunts,
praise the government for ushering in peace that has enabled them
to enjoy life. Have they not got their priorities wrong? |
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Copyright © 2001 Wijeya Newspapers
Ltd. All rights reserved. |
